MEETING TOMORROW HEAD ON - Rockland PC Users Group
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1. 0 Wao 0 0 Reich Whe Wy Published by 3 PC Users Group a FEBRUARY 2001 0 MEETING TOMORROW HEAD ON AT THIS MONTH S GENERAL MEETING our featured speaker is from ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES MRR AMD is a global supplier of integrated circuits for the personal and networked computer and communications markets AMD produces pro cessors flash memory programmable logic de vices and products for communications and networking applications The agenda for AMD s presentation will be processor technology and trends current technology and where will it take us in 2001 AMD processor family Athlon Duron processor highlights and platforms AMD s next generation chipset and floor will be opened for question answer session along with door prizes and processor giveaways FREE Computer Beginners Workshop at 6 00PM The workshop will be held in the Raso Room of the Palisades Mall prior to our monthly General Meeting If you are new to computers or you would like to learn more about them come out and Join the Fun We will be demonstrating how to operate in the Windows environment from word processing to playing solitaire Let us help you take away your fear of the unknown We look forward to seeing you there This month s Multimedia SIG Special Interest Group will be held on February 13th at 6 00PM The meeting will be held in the Raso Room in the Palisades Mall prior to the RPCUG sched2. sample s settings and within minutes clicked on the OK button and viewed it in Photoshop was amazed that in such a short time created an image that would have taken me weeks to complete if had engraved it by hand My one complaint I have is that it is hard to view the results while in the Cutline plug in If you enlarge the image the lines are not well defined discovered that an image looked horrible in Cutline but looked great in Photoshop and printed even better The interface is wonderful If you fly over a window or bar a description appears in the helper box This explains or reminds you of how that particular tool works The interface is clean simple and very user friendly PLUG IN A hardware or software module that in adds a specific feature or service to a larger system www webopedia com Next I tried applying the filter to a drawing The filter replaces the gray tones in a photo or illustration so creating one in Photoshop was a breeze This time made a selection in Photoshop brought it into Cutline applied the filter and was done within seconds There are many adjustments you can make in Cutline such as the type of line cutline elliptical or wavy elliptical There are also choices as to applying the filter to the highlight or shadow areas You can also position the curvature or angle of the lines Then there is the stamper tool This enables you to design a custom curve in
3. www rpcug org Hit Any Key To Continue Message from the President Welcome to the 21st Century y mom who is ninety came to me and said she heard that this is going to be the Century of Computers believe that have heard this before hmmm wasn t that in 2001 A Space Odyssey Anyway am positive that we all believe that the computer is becoming more and more the wave of the present Most of us have seen it go from a room full of equipment to a pocket full We now see that we can communicate with almost anyone in real time anywhere in the world from our computers No we haven t reached the pinnacles of the movie but we have made great advances as far as the com puter is concerned With that in mind would like to say that the Group has been doing a great job in keeping us up to date about all the new products the programs at our General Meetings have been both entertaining and very informative This month s presentation will be AMD manufacturers of the new 1 2 GHz Athlon Processor Our March meeting will have Creative Labs manufacturers of Sound Blaster will keep us up to date with their new products Thank you Sandy We have been making great progress in becoming more active as a group Our Workshops SIGs have been doing well and are beginning to grow We have started a Beginners Workshop which is held at the Palisades Mall prior to our monthly General Meeting the second
4. Defined by Dick Bromley Chrystal River Uger Group e mail dickb hitter net M unknowing computer less cousin gave me the Oh really response when uttered the name of our computer club to him recently The second word in that title seems to present an alto gether different meaning to some of our more worldly citizens Well Herewith is my offering to clear up any misunderstanding s as to the purpose and choice of the name of our organization as well as others of similar bent A user group is a community of computer enthusiasts who band together to learn to share experiences and to serve their community This pretty much reflects the club s statement of purpose within its by laws The use of the descriptive word user s is more or less traditional when it is found in the name of many cyber clubs So it was incorporated in ours its connotation was not in question when the club was born Our main thrust is and has always been to provide computer and software education That USING SHORTCUT KEYS for the Desktop My Computer and Windows Explorer means the instruction in using your computer more effectively To achieve this goal we try to keep pace with the industry trends get updates on new hardware and software then bring this information to the classes we hold for our members and the community We make it a policy to share social activities with fellow computer enthusiasts at our general eetings held mo
5. all of my open windows at once or press and hold the Alt key and then tab through my open programs and documents The problem is trying to figure out what all the keyboard shortcuts are Well buried deep within Microsoft s ac cessibility pages is an amazing resource that shows you almost ALL of the key board shortcuts for most of Microsoft s most popular programs Word Win dows Internet Explorer and so on Just go to http www microsoft com en able products key board keyboardsearch asp Here you can pick the program you are interested in That s it Like this stuff You can get it on a regular basis by subscribing at www tourbus com CHECK OUT OUR SAMPLES ON PAGE 4 MEETING SCHEDULE GENERAL MEETING 7 15 PM MULTIMEDIA WORKSHOP 6 00 PM THE ROCKLAND PC USERS GROUP OFFICERS President Ken Herbig hobbikat hobbikat com Vice President Eugene Frank hhw icu com Secretary Kirsten Head ktdiddd aol com Treasurer Thea Zendell tzend282 aol com Member at Large Gary Fitzgerald gjfitz1 aol com COMMITTEES Jack Marsella mumbassa bestweb net Intergroup Liaison Membership Programs Public Relations Review Editor Shareware Librarian Webmaster Frank Palmeri palmshet aol com Sondra Coulter mscoulter aol com Sy Berber syber icu com Roberta Mikkelson Roberta316 yahoo com Alain LaJoux allx netzero net Steve Weinberg r
6. are USB supported The software is comprehensive and allows you to configure the mouse the way you desire from the available options There is a swap buttons option where you can reassign the right and left buttons the cursor speed can be changed from slow to fast the cursor tail can be made long or short the double click speed can be slow or fast the cursor can be made small or large You may also select black cursor or white transparent or reverse With the third or middle button feature you can simulate keyboard functions such as selecting F1 through F9 esc backspace page up page down or enter With the third button you can also assign other features such as close application double click drag lock find document maximize or minimize window start menu run zoom or scroll love my new mouse Simex Systems United Kingdom www pcmouse co uk Mrs Mazurski Ce ee was our Ce ee now she s our search engine lt har 7 K MONEY continued from previous page PC with Pentium 90 or higher 24 MB ram for Win 95 or 98 32 MB ram for Win 2000 or Windows NT Workstation 75 210 MB of available hard disk space 210MB if Microsoft Internet Explorer 5 01 or later is not already installed Internet Explorer 5 01 or later is required and included on the CD Double speed or faster CD ROM drive VGA graphics card or compatible video graphics adapter and 256 color monitor Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointi
7. program is strong in Internet integration found utilizing the Tax Estimator extremely helpful in seeing what the tax implications would be if I were to sell a security then follow up on Money Central and researched the latest on strategy information and the latest tax law at it applied to what wanted to do The capital gains report that is generated is by sell date order There is no distinction between short and long term sales believe that when year 2000 is exported to a tax software program it is subdivided by short term and long term in date order would prefer to have the report generate in that format whenever it is run A good bit of time can be spent locating ma neuvering and customizing functions Money 2001 of fers lots of bells and whistles nonetheless along with all the managing of tasks the financial experts regu larly published columns in Money Central are a most significant resource Microsoft Money 2001 Deluxe List 64 95 mail in rebate 20 System requirements e Windows 95 98 2000 or Windows NT Workstation version 4 0 or later Continued on next page FLAG MOUSE from Simex Systems reviewed by Roberta Mikkelgen s it possible that am the only person with persistent mouse problems Mice die on me They become dysfunc tional They are erratic Every time one quits buy a new and different model hopeful that my new mouse will behave am usually disappointed I have a box full of these dis
8. your piece where you can shape and angle the curves And as stated before you can make a selection in Photoshop bring it into cutline and apply the filter to that particular area With Cutline Filter am able to produce many more engravings and may retire my wood blocks and tools Andromeda Software Inc 699 Hampshire Rd Suite 109 Thousand Oaks CA 91361 1 800 547 0055 www andromeda com Editor s note Current versions require Adobe Photoshop 4 0 or higher or other host that accepts Photoshop compati ble plug ins These include versions of PhotoPaint Picture Publisher Paint Shop Premiere Director and Color It If your image editing program is not listed here and it accepts Photoshop compatible plug ins download the demo ver sion of the filter from the Andromeda site and try it out Microsoft Money 2001 Deluxe Reviewed by Mary Ann Delurtie ONEY 2001 DELUXE is a complex personal fi nance program Its comprehensive features in clude investment management bookkeeping budgeting and retirement planning It supports Kiplinger s Tax Cut program real time financial ad vice and feedback capabilities and integration with Web based financial services MSN Money Cen tral In this review covered online banking ser vices bill paying investment tracking tax information and reports As a persistent do it myself user found my way through the program but had a tendency to underutilize the program s capa
9. Tuesday of every month at 6 00 PM If you know of anyone that you feel would be interested please let them know Our Graphics Multimedia Workshop has been growing every month Gene Frank has been doing a great job showing what can be done The workshop is also held prior to our monthly General Meeting the second Tuesday of every month at 6 00 PM Thank you Gene The Financial SIG has been growing very rapidly Hank Feinberg has been doing a fantastic job keeping us all from jumping out windows The stock market has been a little unstable but Hank has been there as a stabilizing factor Thanks Hank I am sorry to report that Richie Stark was unable to continue with the Windows 95 98 group He did a really great job for over four years It is a shame that the most recognition that a SIG Leader receives is when he or she resigns Richie thanks for all of your dedication and hard work you gave us We will try to get this SIG back in action very soon If there is anyone out there who can help please contact me or one of our board members Webmaster Steve Weinberg has been very busy improving our Web pages You re probably tired of hearing it but do take a peek For those of you that have done their own web sites or who take care of commercial sites you know the time and effort that goes into keeping a site current Let s show Steve how much we appreciate his efforts by signing on and making that counter jump If you need inf
10. appointments Recently acquired a new mouse from Simex Systems liked it immediately While its general shape is not that different from other mice have used it is just different enough to feel more comfortable in the hand The appearance is very radical it looks like the American flag a field of blue peppered with white stars where the buttons are The rest of the body is alternate red and white stripes wavy as though blowing in the wind I ve seen one other from this company painted up as a lady bug Very cute Their other mice are worth checking out too You can listen to the radio through one or download MP3 through another One is shaped like a UFO a new one boasts to be the only security mouse and another blinks The prices are in British pounds ranging from 13 99 for the Flag mouse 22 66 to 110 45 178 993 for the top of the line BogoCop security mouse The novelty line includes the UFO the Frog and a cordless Visit their web site at for more details The All Eyes feature is fun and practical At the top of the screen are a pair of eyeballs The pupils of the eyes follow the cursor tried to get it to go cross eyed by moving the cursor between them but the eyelids simply close Its function of course is to help you locate your cursor when it is lost in a maze of type It can be directly plugged into a 9 pin serial port or you can use the adaptor to plug into a 25 pin serial port Other mice
11. bilities Time and practice should solve that and result in saved time and increased efficiency Setting up my new account data didn t take long was asked a series of questions in a step by step interview then lined up some of my priorities such as bills due taxes due life events etc on the home page and mini home pages for each section The home page I ve set up is customized to fit my needs It indicates the current status of my bank accounts bills due investments and taxes This is a most impressive and useful feature on one page am able to deter mine what is due when and how much have to cover it all Online Banking and Bill Paying Money is very competent at the tasks do most often banking bill paying and report generating On line banking once set up with the bank and an ISP in place is a dream No more trips to the Post Office waiting in line for stamps and or mailing out bills or trips to the bank to transfer money The program scans my new bills and payments and suggests those that could be scheduled on a monthly quarterly or annual basis especiallylike this feature as infrequent bills can be overlooked as an upcoming expense One in flexible item a regularly scheduled online payee can not be renamed you must enter it as a new payee When connecting to the Internet to update my bank accounts Money 2001 Deluxe automatically updates online stock quotes and Money news reports although w
12. ng device 14 4 or higher baud modem and Internet access required for online features Audio board with headphones or speakers required for audio Internet functionality requires an Internet service provider ISP and browser MSN trial offer and Internet Explorer 5 01 provided Connect time charges may apply Some MSN Money Central features require Microsoft Passport ROCKLAND PC USERS GROUP 169 South Main Street PMB 384 New City NY 10956 3358 a 0 a S a WANT TO JOIN THE GROUP HERE S HOW Bring your completed application and a check payable to RPCUG to a meeting or mail your application and check to RPCUG at 169 South Main Street Suite 384 New City NY 10956 3358 PLEASE PRINT ALL INFORMATION Name E mail Addreess Address Day Phone Spouse s E mail address Evening Phone Children s Names for Family Membership COPORATE RENEWAL SPONSOR Member 100 INDIVIDUAL JOINT FAMILY STUDENT 35 40 45 15 l l l l l l l l l l l l l Spouse s Name if joint membership l l l l l l l l l l l l l l
13. nthly in the local recreation center We offer a social hour prior to the gavel rapping so that general mingling can ensue This period usually includes the opportunity to present certain troublesome technical queries to selected gurus in attendance Our community activities include support to local schools and charities The recycling of used computer equipment and working with senior centers The bottom line learning from each other s experiences and sharing ours through meetings instruction newsletters and our Web page This article is brought to you by the Editorial Committee of the Association of Personal Computer User Groups APCUG an International organization Dick Bromley is a past president of the Crystal River User s Group Florida s west coast and currently acts as the club s publicity person WWW RPCUG ORG but you knew that When an item is selected you can use the following shortcut keys TO DO THIS Bypass AutoPlay when inserting a compact disc Copy a file Create a shortcut Delete an item NOT putting it in the recycle bin Diplay Find All Files Display the item s shortcut menu Refresh the contents of a window Rename an item Select all items View an item s properties PRESS SHIFT whil inserting the CD CTRL while dragging the file CTRL SHIFT while dragging the file SHIFT DELETE F3 APPLICATION key F5 F2 CTRL A ALT ENTER or ALT DOUBLE CLICK You can u
14. o on any of our meeting times and dates check out our monthly calendar it is all there Thank you Steve There are always thankless jobs that are done that rarely receive recognition With this in mind would like to thank Sy Berber for all his diligent work in promoting the Group Without publicity no one knows that we exist Every month he gets the announcements of our meetings to all those newspapers radio stations and libraries via mail fax and E mail Thea Zendell our treasurer for keeping us on the straight and narrow of the financial path Frank Palmeri for his diligence in keeping track of when our memberships are about to expire Alain Lajoux for that Freeware Shareware for us finding all great Gary Fitzgerald without whose hard work we wouldn t know who is where as he keeps our membership database up to date Kirsten Head our secretary Roberta Mikkelsen for all her work with getting products and doing reviews Bill Everson for volunteering to take over our online Help Desk A special thanks to Marian Baade our Newsletter Editor for without her you would not be reading this monotonous letter In closing I want to send a special thanks to all of you that belong to the Rockland PC Users Group for without you all there would not be a group at all Remember a Group is only as good as its members so come out and Join the Fun ih K Z Ken Herbig President User Groups
15. ould prefer to update my stock portfolio when want Downloading stock quotes before the market closes is of very little value to me The Monthly Report indicates what I ve spent that month com pared to the previous month in dollars and percent age The information generated includes the top expense categories could be a surprise 12 months of new worth chart of investment performance by ac count potential account problems missing check se quence check over 60 days and income tax estimates how much paid to date and along with a tax estimate worksheet what the bottom line may be Investment Tracking Setting up investment accounts and investment transactions is straightforward When a security own has a name change however there is no way to link the old to the new name so that there is a paper trail Other items that could not be addressed were margin interest corporate acquisition stock or stock and stock dividend non cash The alerts that set up such as security price changes and bank balances falling below a specified amount were invaluable This was especially so with the current stock market Money 2001 Deluxe has asset allocation tools that analyze goals and make recommendations To gether with MSN Money Central where there are mar ket reports and breaking financial news that aids in managing personal finances found a wealth of infor mation as well as convenient access Tax Information The
16. pcug acd pc com NEWSLETTER EDITOR Marian Baade mcbaade aol com The Purpose of the Group To exchange computer related ideas and information among its members to engage in computer related activities for the benefit of the membership and the community at large to increase understanding and utilization of the personal computer to provide an opportunity for the formation of special interest groups SIGs to provide a medium for the exchange and propagation of public domain software freeware and shareware From the RPCUG Constitution amp Bylaws Tuesday February 13 2000 The Palisades Center Community Room Palisades Center Mall West Nyack NY Multi Media Workshop meets on the second Tuesday of the month prior to the general meeting at 6 00 PM in the Raso Room in the Palisades Mall West Nyack The Beginners Workshop meets on the second Tuesday of the month prior to the general meeting at 6 00 PM in the Raso Room in the Palisades Mall West Nyack The Investment Workshop SIG meetings will vary for the present please consult the web site for details The Executive Board meets last Thursday of the month West Nyack Library 7 00 PM The Rockland PC Users Group a tax exempt educational organization meets monthly usually on the second Tuesday Meetings begin at 7 15 PM The latest information about meeting programs and dates is avail able on the Internet at http
17. se the APPLICATION key with a Microsoft Natural Keyboard or any other compatible keyboard that includes the APPLICATION key ANDROMEDA CUTLINE FILTER Reviewed by Roberta Mikkelson A ies Software Inc is a graphic software company with an extensive multi platform line of imaging plug ins for Adobe products As Photoshop is my favorite program all of Andromeda s filters interested me chose Cutline Filter because of my background am professional artist with a B F A in Illustration and a minor Printmaking For the last five years have had the pleasure of knowing and working with the well known wood engraver John DePol He has taught me the old fashioned way of creating a wood engraving carving the end grain wood with a special tool line by line inch by inch sometimes taking weeks to finish a piece When read about Cutline Filter knew it was worth looking into The filter is designed to take an image and apply black and white lines that may be cross hatched in the shadow areas as the lines become thicker or subtly break up into dots in the highlight areas as the lines become thinner The result is a digital engraving that emulates the classic old world engraving techniques wasn t disappointed It was very easy to get up and running and the user manual that is on the CD is very helpful started out with a black and white photograph it works best with a high contrast photo followed the
18. uled monthly meeting Meetings are free and open to the public with newcomers especially welcome For directions and up to date meeting in formation visit RPCUG s Website at http www rpcug org Is your membership coming up for renewal THIS COULD BE YOUR LUCKY DAY Starting January 1 2001 you will receive a First Edition 200 Shareware amp Freeware Programs CD for renewing your membership on time This CD has been produced by The Association of Personal Computer User Groups APCUG Alain will have a list of what is on it at the February General Meet ing If you have already renewed in January you will receive your copy at the meeting This offer will continue through December 31 2001 We look forward to giving away many copies For members or visitors who would like to purchase a copy Alain will offer the CD ROM at a cost of 10 00 Tell your friends and neighbors about us and bring them along If they decide to join let us know that you sent them you will receive a free three month extension to youR membership Oone a programmer drowned in the sea There were many Marines on the beach but the programmer was shouting F1 F1 and nobody understood 9 The Rockland County QO X C8 Editor s Picks x Microsoft Keyboard Shortcuts I love keyboard shortcuts can t tell you how many times a day press and hold the Windows logo key and then press the letter M to minimize
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